At the beginning of act one scene three, the three witches meet, again in a storm, on stage and wait on the heath for Macbeth, they talk about a sailors wife, they say how she had annoyed them, and talk about tormenting the sailor “I’ll drain him dry as hay”. Macbeth enters the stage accompanied by a drum, this is the very first time that we see Macbeth and his opening line is “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” This relates back to scene one where the witches had said “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” This could be seen as an immediate bond between Macbeth and the witches, as though the witches already have Macbeth under some kind of spell. Macbeth had already been given the title of Thane of Glamis and, although he didn’t know it, Thane of Cawdor, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to great effect in this scene, the audience know that Macbeth is Thane of Cawdor, but Macbeth and Banquo do not. They also had no idea that the thane of Cawdor had been sentenced to death, “The Thane of Cawdor lives,” and Macbeth asks the witches and even demands them to tell him more, but the witches vanish. He is told by the witches that he would become King of Scotland, “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter.” But he denies that this could be true. Hearing this from the witches, Banquo demands to know his own future, he is told that his descendants will become kings, but he himself will not.
Ross and Angus enter the stage to give Macbeth the news that he is Thane of Cawdor and that the previous Thane of Cawdor had been sentenced to death. Macbeth cannot believe that he is to be Thane of Cawdor, and Banquo is the first to think of the witches, “But ‘tis strange, And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths.” At the time that this play was written, there were the Salem witch trials, and witches were seen as a being of evil. This line, delivered by Banquo “The instruments of darkness tell us truths,” is very controversial with the audience of the time as witches did not tell the truth. He goes on to say that the witches’ predictions could easily lead to evil, which the audience would agree with, this would have built tension in that the audience would side with Banquo and also would believe that the witches predictions will lead to evil. Macbeth decides not to listen to Banquo, he plans to kill Duncan to become king himself, Macbeth lies to Banquo about his plans. Witches, at the time, were seen as liars, and Macbeth would have been seen to be siding with the witches and turning evil, Shakespeare uses this to create tension as the audience would see the main character turning, and this brave warrior that was seen in act one scene two, had become this force of evil, molded by the witches.
Act one scene four is a short scene full of dramatic irony; the first example of this is when Duncan talks about the previous Thane of Cawdor, “He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust.” Macbeth’s immediate entry after this line builds tension in the audience as the audience know that Macbeth is planning to kill Duncan, but Duncan doesn’t. Further on in this scene, Macbeth declares his loyalty to Duncan, this is another example of dramatic tension, where the audience and Macbeth know of his plans but Duncan, Banquo and the other characters do not. Duncan goes on to say that Malcolm will proceed to claim the throne, this angers Macbeth and the audience is able to see this but Duncan isn’t. Macbeth talks aside, to the audience, and talks about how he is confident that Duncan doesn’t know about his plans, “Stars, hide your fires, Let not light see my black and deep desires, The eye wink at the hand.” The audience at this point will want Duncan to discover Macbeth’s plans and not fall into the trap, the audience believes that Macbeth is under the witches command and he himself had become evil. This statement by Macbeth strongly contrasts with his earlier statement about being loyal to Duncan, and creates tremendous tension between these two characters. Shakespeare uses this tension brilliantly throughout the play and the introduction of Lady Macbeth in act one scene five has a grave impact on Macbeth and his actions.
